Copyholder



June 9, 1942.

C. A. PONSFORD COPYHOLDER Filed July 25, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l Inventor 6 hay/e314. Pans fard A tiomeys C. A. PO'N'SFORD GOPYHOLDER June 9, 1942.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 In ventor 6a r/es A Ponsfoifl' Filed July 23, 1940 V A itorney;

Patented June 9, 194-2 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

My invention relates to improvements in copy holders, and the primary object of the invention is to provide a copy holder especiall useful for stenographers and typists for holding copy during transcription on the typewriter, wherein ready adjustability of the angle of support is provided for as well as easy one hand adjustment of the line indicator or pointer, and wherein the angularly adjustable foot for supporting the copy holder at the desired angle folds flat against the back of the copy holder when not in use so that the entire copy holder takes up only a very shallow and relatively small space in a drawer or other storage space in a desk or the like.

Other important objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from a reading of the following description taken in connection with the appended drawings wherein for purposes of illustration I have shown a preferred embodiment of m invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a general front elevational view of the embodiment.

Figure 2 is a right hand side elevational view of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a rear elevational view.

Figure 4 is an enlarged horizontal sectional View taken through Figure 1 approximately on the line 4-4 and looking downwardly in the direction of the arrow.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary enlarged elevational view of one of the pulleys.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral 5 generally designates a flat preferably metal plate of suitable gauge and in a suitable vertically elongated generall rectangular size and shape having a forwardly projecting relatively narrow flange 6 on its lower end, the said plate forming the main body of the device. Fastened to the back of the plate 5 adjacent to the lower end thereof are the L-shaped. brackets I and 8, respectively, which have the foot portions thereof laterally outwardly directed and have mounted thereon the corrugated cylindrical feet 9, Ill,

respectively, which are positioned below the lower end of the plate for the purpose of engaging the supporting surface. The corrugations with which the blocks 9 and Ill are preferably provided prevent skidding on the supporting surface and allow the plate to be supported in a tilted position i without slipping on said surface.

Hinge bails l I, H! are secured to the back of the plate above the middle thereof and adjacent the side edges of the plate to act as bearings and retainers for the laterally outwardly directed sired angularit of the pintles l3 and M on the upper ends of the upwardly converging legs l5, it of the angularly adjustable support which is generally designated I l. The support is preferably made of stout wire in a single length, with the legs I5 and I6 terminating at their lower ends in U-shaped portions is and Is on the bight portions of which are circumposed the cylindrical blocks 20, 2i, respectively, which have their surfaces preferably corrugated to provide non-skid contact of the blocks with the supporting surface to the rear of the plate 5 in the manner indicated in Figure 2 of the drawings. The laterally inwardly positioned legs of the U-shaped portion of the support ll terminate in complementary S-curved portions 22 and 23 defining between them the open U-shaped part 24 over which is adapted to be hooked, as shown in Figure 1 of the drawings one of the convolutions adjacent the longitudinally outward or rearward end of the releasable retainer arm which is generally designated 25 and is preferably made of stout wire having a lateral part swingably confined in a bail 25 secured to the back of the plate 5 adjacent the lower end thereof and approximately centrally of the plate. The rearward part of the arm 25 is formed with a series of alternately erect and inverted U-forms 2'! and 28 which merge into each other and at their rear ends merge into a substantially closed loop 29 acting as a handle for manipulating the arm 25. With companion convolutions engaged with the portion 24 of the support I! the arm 25 holds the support I! in the adjusted position so as to maintain the defront of the plate 5 with respect to a supporting surface 30 on which the copy holder may be mounted for transcription from papers lying on the front of the plate and supported at their lower ends by the flange 6.

The upper and lower parts of the right hand part of the back of the plate 5 have attached thereto inner and outer journal brackets 31 and 32 and 33 and 34 arranged horizontally in pairs and rotatably mounting an upper shaft 35 and a lower shaft 35. The shafts are provided with respective enlargements 3'! and 38 at their laterally inward ends which bear against the laterally inward sides of the brackets 3i and 33, the said shafts being provided at their laterally outward ends with respective cylindrical pulleys 39 and so, respectively, which are relatively axially elongated and provided adjacent their laterally inward ends with grooves accepting the round belt 4! which is trained over both pulleys and grooves whereby manual rotatin of either one of the pulleys will result in vertical movement of the portions of the belt lying between the pulleys adjacent to and along the right hand edge 42 of the plate 5,

In front of the belt 4| and aligned therewith is the rod or wire 43 which is mounted in extensions 44 and 45 of the brackets 32 and 34 on the back of the right hand edge portion of the plate 5 and projecting beyond the right hand edge 42 as indicated in Figure 1, heads 46 and 41 on the rod 43 acting as combined stops to hold the: position of the rod relative to the said extensions and to render the ends of the rod harmless in case of contact therewith.

Slidable along the rod 43 is the U-shaped carriage 48, the rod passing through openings formed in intermediate portions of the legs of the carriage, with the ends 49 and 50, respectively, of the belt 4| passed through openings in end portions of the legs of the carriage 48 and mounted therebehind as shown to cause the carriage to move with the belt when either one of the pulleys is turned by the coypist. As shown in Figure 4 the bight portion of the carriage 48 is extended to form a barrel 5| through which extends the standard portion of an L-shaped extension 52 on the right hand end of the line indicating bar 53 which extends across the front of the plate 5 to designate the lines being copied from papers lying on the front of the plate. It is obvious that the carriage 48 when adjusted by the means indicated accurately moves the indicating bar 53 to the desired indicating position.

Although I have shown and described herein a preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be definitely understood that I do not wish to limit the application of the invention to the piecise structural details and arrangements set forth, except as may be required by the scope of the subjoined claim.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

A copy holder comprising a plate, a leg form ing member connected with the rear face of the plate, a guide bar supported from one side edge of the plate and paralleling said side edge but spaced slightly rearwardly from said side edge, a substantially U-shaped carriage having its limbs arranged one above the other and holes in said limbs through which the guide rod passes, a bearing forming part of the front face of the carriage and extending horizontally, a line indicating bar having a crank at one end thereof located in the bearing forming part, whereby the bar will tend to rotate downwardly and rearwardly to hold the bar against the copy on the plate, upper and lower pulleys supported from said side edge of the plate and a belt passing over the pulleys and having its front reach connected with the carriage, whereby rotary movement of one of the pulleys will cause the belt to move the carriage upwardly and downwardly.

CHARLES A. PONSFORD. 

